


when all of this is over

by talesofsuspenses



Series: when all of this is over [1]
Category: Marvel
Genre: Bittersweet, Established Relationship, Fluff, Light Angst, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-17
Updated: 2019-04-17
Packaged: 2020-01-15 15:05:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18501463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/talesofsuspenses/pseuds/talesofsuspenses
Summary: "You’re such an idiot,” Tony says, rolling over and propping himself on Steve’s chest.“I missed you,” he says, simply, as if that justifies sneaking into a country where he's considered a war criminal, the same country he'd sworn to protect, just to spend the night. Except it's much more than that. It's worth it, every time.





	when all of this is over

**Author's Note:**

> good day! i hope you enjoy!!

“You’re such an idiot,” Tony says, rolling over and propping himself on Steve’s chest. Steve runs a hand down his spine, fingers flitting over all the bumps and mapping out the planes of his muscles, before coming to rest on the small of his back, just above the curve of his ass.

“I missed you,” he says, simply, as if that’s enough justification for breaking into the Avengers’ compound when he was still considered a war criminal of 117 countries. Including the one he’s in. _Moron._

“It’s not breaking in if I have the key,” Steve adds, reading Tony’s mind. And it’s true. He’d told Steve that he’s put his biometric data back into the system for the compound, encrypted, of course, a couple months after Siberia, a month after they’d started meeting in person. He hadn’t told him that he couldn’t bring himself to delete his scans in the first place.

“You don’t have the keys to the country, Steve.”

“I’m pretty sure I got the key to the city once,” Steve says, grinning, and that reminds Tony of simpler times, when the Tower was just a super-powered frat house. When America’s golden boy, Tony’s lover, wasn’t considered a criminal of the country he’s sworn to protect.

“They’d’ve redacted it by now,” Tony says, softly, holding eye contact with Steve.

Tony, Tony looked, _worse for wear_ was an understatement. He’s tired, stressed, carrying the weight of the sky in the way that only Tony Stark would think that’s his duty.  
And Steve knows that he’s at fault for, at the very least, some of it, if he were a better man, he’d stay in Wakanda, like a good fugitive, and stop calling call Tony, and definitely stop visiting him out of the blue. Like a good fugitive.

But he doesn’t go back on his promises, he _can’t_ go back on this one. Tony deserves that much, at least.

Tony has dark circles under his eyes, more prominent than before, he’s got more wrinkles, deeper than before, he looks exhausted, more so than a three-day bender in his workshop would leave him, no, this, it’s the result of everything, ever since Siberia, maybe Ultron. 

Tony leans into Steve’s touch, every time they see each other in person, like he’d crumble apart onto the concrete without him, he’s under so much pressure, Steve’d marvel that he hasn’t broken already, but he knows Tony, he’s stronger than all of them combined.

There’s no-one else in the world who deserves more of a rest than Tony Stark, and there’s no-one God’ll grant rest less.

“Yeah,” Steve says, instead, rubbing his other hand through his beard, “it’d be pretty bad for PR for them.” 

Tony groans dramatically and drops his head onto Steve’s chest, laughter bubbling up and out of his, “Stop it, with the beard, sweetheart please, you’re killing me here, the runaway hobo look would only work for you.”

The laughter brightens up the room, it’s not for show, it’s not forced, it’s natural, soft, so, so _Tony_ , open, vulnerable, trusting. It’s a miracle they’ve made it this far, it’s a miracle that Tony’s let him.

The nickname sends a pang through Steve’s ribs, dancing about his vital organs, stinging far more than last week in Peru. He doesn’t deserve it. He knows that, Tony knows that, he doesn’t think that there’s anyone who doesn’t. 

It’s a slip, the surprise that flashes over Tony’s face tells Steve everything, how he relaxes, really relaxes and lets it go, tells him even more.

Steve pushes a hand through Tony’s floppy, soft, salt-and-pepper hair, gently tangling his fingers through the strands, and presses a lingering kiss to his forehead, wordlessly thanking him.

“I think I’m gonna shave it,” he says, rubbing a hand over it again, “it itches,” he admits, sheepishly.

The beard makes him look older, that and the longer hair, keeps him pretty incognito, but he’s always managed to have a boyish charm about him, he’s something of a dichotomy, something Tony realised embarrassingly late. 

He’s, he’s lived multiple lifetimes, but he’s only biologically, about 30, and that does something to the guy. Tony remembers when they all lived in the tower, after the Mandarin, before the SHIELD/Hydra clusterfuck, when the team was still new, how Steve was closed off, how he’d look heartbreakingly sad when he thought no one was paying attention.

But when he smiles, when he really smiles, bright and sunny, it makes him drop all the years. Technically, he’s a millennial, technically, he’s far better than Tony ever was at that age, it took him until he was almost forty to get his morals straight, for Steve, he would’ve been in his twenties when he got the serum, and based on the stories, he came out the womb with iron solid morals.

After everything, he’s still his hero.

After everything, he still worries for him. He’s pretty sure that Steve’s not eating enough, according to T’Challa, he’s in Wakanda as much as he visits him, and when he’s not there, he’s righting the worlds’ wrongs (according to Nat) more often than not by himself. 

He runs his hands down the side of his flank, unconsciously, it’s become something of a habit, recently, whenever Steve comes to visit, he knows, logically, that he could go completely without food for months before anything would show on his body or his face, but, he still worries.  
The last time he’d brought it up, Steve’d told him not to worry, _I’ve spent more of my life hungry than not_ , he’d said, shrugging it off, focusing back on Tony.

He doesn’t bring it up now either, he’d just say the same thing, and he’s smiling playfully, and Tony doesn’t want to lose that now. They see each other in person so rarely, and it’s always so fleeting, he doesn’t want to waste any of their time together.

So instead, without missing a beat, he says, “Well think about how I feel then.”

Steve’s grin turns wolfish, teasing, and his hand skirts a little lower, onto Tony’s ass, brushing over where he’s applied salve after eating him out. “If I remember correctly, you weren’t exactly telling me to stop.”

Tony laughs again, light and free, “You’re not wrong,” he murmurs, pressing feather light kisses to Steve’s neck.

Steve giggles, a sound Tony’s seldom heard from him, “It tickles,” he mumbles, a blush flowing over his cheeks when Tony gave him a look.

“Unbelievable,” he says, shaking his head and laughing, “God, you make it hard to hate you.” 

And he does, he’s far more adorable than a guy who Tony should hate, despise, even, but, he doesn’t. He’s incredibly good, despite when the U.N and the new outlets are saying, he’s the best of all of them.

Tony’s smiling fully now, bright and unabashed, it lights up his eyes, a spark flares up in his honey-brown irises, and God, Steve’d missed that. Missed him.

Steve’s smiling a small, private, _intimate_ smile, almost shy, but full of confidence - something that wasn’t there a couple of months ago, Tony’d missed that look. Missed him.

For a moment, they can pretend that they’re in a simpler time, when they could’ve safely called each other _boyfriend_ , even if that’d been a little… juvenile for Tony’s taste. _Partener_ was far too clinical for what they were, are. 

A time when, maybe, definitely, something a little more mature than _boyfriend_ and much more intimate than _partner_ was in the question. 

Still could be, they hope, when all of this is over.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!!
> 
> please leave comments and kudos if you liked it!! tell me what you thought!!
> 
> [tumblr!](https://nohalfway.tumblr.com) \- prompts are perpetually open!!


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